Tuesday 9 February 2016

Late Winter (at my place)

As I've been away from the blog world for so long, I'd like to update you a little on what's been happening at the smallholding...

Our main news is that we've converted our timber barn into a home! This whole process went relatively smoothly (a huge relief, given that so much else was happening last year). We moved in just before Christmas and we've all quickly made ourselves at home here, as you can see...


We previously had a log burner in our cottage and loved it - so we treated ourselves to a new one when we moved in here. But it did help send the local building regs officers into a health and safety spin. The prospect of this in a timber building, meant that we had to comply with lots of regulations. Not only have we had to rig up loads of smoke alarms, but we were also told at the beginning to paint all walls and ceilings with fire retardant paint. We very quickly found that this stuff was a) very expensive and b) was sort of like mud mixed with treacle (in consistency and appearance). And it didn't dry! So we abandoned that and had to come up with something else instead to meet regulations...

Which was this....

A fire sprinkler system! Fortunately, the small pipes, when painted, blend in very well (luckily no great industrial-looking pipes everywhere).  But look at the little red vial in the photo - this mustn't be knocked accidentally.  So I mustn't swing the vacuum cleaner (or anything else) round wildly otherwise gallons of water will gush out and probably sweep me right across the fields!

We love our new home and the animals are really close to us now, which means the sheep can watch us through the window...

We now have two old male sheep and two young coloured ryeland females, so it's a bit like two grumpy old men with two lively young girls driving them mad.  Two more coloured ryeland lambs are coming later this year (so the old males really will be outnumbered).

Did I mention that conifer jewellery is all the rage this year?
We still have chickens, and only four geese. Cador, the young gander, became too aggressive with his father and so he now has a home at the farm next door, where he'll have new females to protect.


I now have just two bee hives.  They survived the wasps last year (last year was a very bad year for wasps and hornets). Here is one wasp trying its luck and hoping to sneak into the hive to attack the bees and steal the honey...

I peeked at the hives the other day and both colonies are surviving the winter, although, before Christmas, one hive had been knocked right over.  I don't think it was our local badgers, because they would munch their way through the honeycomb. So, instead, here are the prime suspects...

It's not a good photo I know.  This was taken on a misty morning in the autumn when they were in the field just behind us. Although I keep looking for them, I haven't seen any evidence of them recently, so they must have moved on to somewhere else in their large territory.

Anyway, this was just one of the special wildlife sightings I've had here recently. I look forward to sharing with you some of the others very soon x

22 comments:

  1. Oh wow, that does sound exciting. I can very well imagine the wrangles with the building inspector. There are some onerous regulations around thatch as well, although they stop short of sprinkler systems thank goodness!
    Lovely to see the geese again, I've missed them. Deer are a mixed blessing.

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    1. Hello Jessica. Yes, I imagine thatch is very similar. We had great fun meeting all the different regulations (which just kept coming!)

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  2. A lovely catch up and your new home sounds and looks wonderful. I didn't know you had red deer nearby- lucky you. Glad the bees are surviving the winter. Lovely to see your doggy boy too, I was wondering how he was x

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    1. Hello CT. Harry's very well - he turned 12 in December so he's now a veteran-dog. He's usually to be found in front of the fire - the days of long walks are well and truly over, sadly.

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  3. Wow how wonderful, I would love to be able to have a few animals and live a little closer to nature.we have just got a wood burner, but the Old Man (border like you) is not to sue about sitting in front of it yet.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Hello Amanda. The wood burner is one of the best things about winter, isn't it? But I'm not sure, if I'm working at home during the day, who I light it for - me or the dog!

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  4. Wendy, your new home looks lovely, and the building and decorating of it the perfect excuse for blogging absence. Love the idea of your grumpy male sheep being nagged by the younger females, I'm sure it will keep them feeling younger ;-) Greta to have some sense of what you have been up to!

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    1. Hello Janet. I did have plenty going on last year, I admit! I am delighted with our new home, but it was a long time in the planning. We got there by stages.

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  5. A lovely update Wendy - it must be wonderful to live so close to all your animals - so glad the conversion went well :)

    Great photos and good news that the hives are surviving the winter.

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    1. Hello Caroline. The bees do look good, but there is a chance I may have lost a queen when the hive was knocked over. I won't be able to have a good look inside and check until the spring - if she has gone, I'll have to replace her asap.

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  6. Really enjoyed this post - the atmosphere, the homeliness, the entertaining description (though not entertaining when you have to go through it all!) of the health and safety challenges.

    Esther Montgomery
    http://estherandthetimemachine.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Hello Esther - thanks for this. Although the regulations were a bit frustrating at times, we were lucky the build went well in the end.

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  7. No wonder you were too busy to blog last year! How lovely to have moved into your converted barn, especially with its views of your handsome sheep.

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    1. Hello DW. We have good views of all the animals now and it's great to keep such a close eye on them. The sheep wake us up with a sort of dawn chorus (they're waiting for breakfast) if we're not out early enough!

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  8. Hello Wendy
    Lovely to see what has been going on in your life since you last posted. Your new home sounds wonderful with such a lot of potential. Love your new sheep they are so cuddly. I had to let my sheep go when we sold our land - I really do miss them but they were getting very old and one (male) had become quite aggressive. Love the decorative trimmings on them - they have obviously been sticking their heads in where they shouldn't. Good to hear the bees are doing well - I always feel they are such a responsibility, especially over winter. Good to hear from you again. Have a good weekend.

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    1. Hello Elaine. I remember your posts on your sheep - it is difficult when they get old. We lost one last year and his close companion i.e. we got them together, is ancient. But at the moment, he still keeps up with the others.

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  9. I very much like the look of your new house. I am a real fan of wood burners. We have our sons dog staying and she loves the stove. She is always in prime position right in front and so close her fur feels hot!

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    1. Hello Elizabeth. Finding the right wood burner was one of the first things we did when we moved in. It is such an important part of the new home.

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  10. How lovely to see you back blogging - I had followed your blog for a while but it's only since I started my own blog recently that I've started commenting on others. Your new home looks very cosy and the wood has warm tints. We loan our field to a friend with sheep and a couple of years ago she had Ryelands - I just love the look of them - so woolly!
    I hope you enjoy your new home

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  11. Hello Sue. Thanks for this. When we were looking at which breed of sheep to have, I loved the ryelands as soon as I saw them. They're very cute and friendly.

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  12. I'm so pleased you are back Wendy - your home is lovely.
    Best wishes
    Rose H
    xx

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    1. Hello Rose. Thank you. We are happy with our new home, although it did take a long time to get here x

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